


6 times people around V were worried and 1 time they didn't have to

by Wonderwhale



Series: V; the top man of causing worries and pining [1]
Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Friendship, I don't know what to tag tbh, I hated the endings, Kerry/V isn't very prominent in this but it's there ok, Like seriously we go through all possible SOs and their stories so..., M/M, No one dies!, No one knows about Johnny, Some angst, Spoilers, Spoilers for the main story and some side quests!, Swearing, Trans Male V (Cyberpunk 2077), V's friends are worried for him, but make it 6 +1, come on it's cyberpunk, yay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:53:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28648611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wonderwhale/pseuds/Wonderwhale
Summary: There was something off about the merc. Nothing too bad, mind you! The guy was not only a decent company but also damn good at his job. But still, there was something off-putting in V's way of staring into emptiness when talked to and the violent coughing fits he quickly tried to hide when they passed. And the talking. Every once in a while he would be caught talking aloud. Small vulgarities like fuck you and just the name Johnny being the most common. And there was that one night he was seen acting like a total opposite of himself.The people V meets throughout his guest trying to save himself and Johnny are worried about the merc and try to understand the weird things that seem to be a package deal with the guy. That's it. That's the fic.
Relationships: Goro Takemura & Male V, Johnny Silverhand & V, Judy Alvarez & Male V, Kerry Eurodyne/Male V, Male V & Jackie Welles, Male V & River Ward, Male V & Viktor Vector, Misty Olszewski & Male V, Panam Palmer & Male V
Series: V; the top man of causing worries and pining [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2120532
Comments: 40
Kudos: 204





	1. 1-3

**Author's Note:**

> Hello my guys, gals and non-binary pals!
> 
> So I was thinking, my V doesn't want to tell anyone about Johnny or his upcoming death. But like still every single second I see Johnny, I'll stare at him instead of whoever I'm interacting with because I don't want him to disappear. And like, how the fuck most of the time no one comments on V's coughing fits or the way he just stares at nothing or how he literally sometimes gestures at Johnny!
> 
> I hated the endings so bad, so here I am, making my own stories and also giving V's story a better ending! So, Jackie is alive because fuck canon, but he doesn't know about Johnny, ok? Like V doesn't tell anyone because _feels_ you know.

**1, Jackie**

It was not uncommon for people to change after huge life-altering events. Jackie of course knew this. Damn, he himself had also gone through the same event! He had the cybernetics now responsible for his ability to move his legs to remind him of the whole incident. V's changes were more subtle. The merc had to be going through something, but he didn't seem to be willing to open up to his best friend. Jackie was, to put it mildly, frustrated. V was way more anxious after their failed heist to steal the relic from Yurinobu Arosaka. So was everyone around him too, but that was mild compared to the way V seemed to be tenser a string from a guitar. 

Something had to have happened to the man. What Viktor had told Jackie when he had woken in the ripperdoc's chair had been unnerving. According to Delamain, when Jackie had passed out in the cab, V had demanded him to be taken straight to Vik's and had himself went to meet DeShawn. Then the Merc had disappeared. DeShawn had been found dead, a bullet to the head. And then V had resurfaced a few days later, nervous and fidgeting. He outright refused to let Vik take a look at him and soon fled from the doc's place altogether, leaving his friends behind, confused.

After a while, Jackie had tried to reach out for V and he had agreed to come to hang out with his friend to El Coyote. After being bluntly stopped from his attempts of prying, Jackie decided to just let the thing for a moment and enjoy the fact they both were still alive. And as the evening went on, V started to relax a little, easing back to their familiar banter and jokes. But the nervous twitching didn't go away. The glances to the side continued and Jackie couldn't not feel like V was seeing something he couldn't. 

"'mano, are you even listening?" Jackie had to interrupt his story when his companion's expression shifted for the third time as he stared into the empty spot next to Jackie. The merc's face had already cycled through surprise, sorrow and now it was downright furious. No response. V's eyes however narrowed, still staring at nothing. Jackie reached over the table and snapped his fingers in front of his face. That seemed to work and V's green eyes finally sifted to meet Jackie's. His best friend looked so tired. There were deep shadows under his eyes and the usual glint in the corner of his eye was gone.

"Sorry, big guy... wait a moment, will you? I need something strong," V was already getting up when Jackie managed to grasp his hand. V _didn't drink_. Jackie had known the Merc for over six months now and hadn't ever seen the man touch even alcohol-free beer. Neither of them had ever talked about it, not after the first "Beer?" "No thanks, do you have any lemonade?" conversation. V didn't drink and that was that, no need to question a completely reasonable decision. But for the merc to desire a drink right now? Things had to be even worse than Jackie had thought.

"V, I thought you don't drink?" was is Jackie's or V's hand that was shaking?  
"Yeah, me too," V whispered, almost more to himself than to Jackie. Then there was more of that damn staring. It was definitely V whose hands shook. He sat back to their booth and downed his lemonade in one go. They were trying to return to the conversation they had had before, but Jackie couldn't help but notice the way V's eyes now every once in a while ended up staring at Jackie's beer. His hand was quietly tapping at the table. 

The call ended their hangout soon.  
"Goro? Everything alright?" V asked as soon as he managed to open the connection. Jackie couldn't hear the response, but V visibly tensed. How that was even possible? And who the fuck was this "Goro"?  
"Alright, I'm in Heywood, I'll come right away," V glanced at his friend apologetically. Did he get a job? Should he even be let on jobs in that condition?  
"I'm sorry, Jackie. Something came up."  
"Esta bien hermano, but are you sure you are good to go?" Jackie had all the rights to be worried. It was his duty as a best friend, after all.  
"Yeah, don't worry about me, ok? I'll give you a call as soon as I can. I'll see you around!" and so the merc was gone. Something was definitely up. Jackie was determined to get to the bottom of this.

**2, Judy**

V, Judy had decided after meeting the guy for a few times, was an odd one. Like, the first time they had met he had been preparing for the most gonk mission she had ever heard about and that alone had excused the merc's slight nervousness. And after the job, Judy could justify the guy's distracted presence by his focus on finding Evelyn. Shit, she herself hadn't been at her best during their desperate scavenger hunt for her. But now that they were meeting strictly for the sake of hanging out, she could tell there was something seriously off about V. 

If she hadn't witnessed with her own eyes all the shit V was able to do from sneaking into a warehouse full of enemies to defeating three guys bigger than him only with mantis blades, she would claim that man was seriously ill. Alarmingly often would Judy hear the jarring coughs and wheezing gasps of air and smell the blood dripping to the floor. The incidents were getting more frequent. But the worst part of it was the way V tried to hide it. Square his shoulders, waive nonchalantly and claim that he was alright. Judy had been lied to so, so many times that she could see through his bullshit the moment he tried.

But there wasn't anything she could do, now was there? V refused to even acknowledge his condition, let alone talk about it. So, Judy was left to silently watch from aside how her friend was slowly crumbling down. That was until V decided to introduce Judy to his other friends.

"Has he always been like that?" Judy asked Jackie when V had momentarily left his apartment to go and pick up some food from one of the stalls on the ground floor of the megabuilding. Jackie seemed to get her point immediately.  
"No," the man sighed heavily and leaned back on the couch they both were sitting. Both Misty and Victor looked stressed too. The former had decided to sit on the steps separating the couch from the rest of the apartment and the latter had planted himself in V's computer chair.  
"Is it something about the heist?" Judy knew it wasn't her place to breach V's privacy, but she was worried the poor guy might one day just collapse for the last time and Judy wouldn't know what to do. She wasn't ready to once again lose a friend.

"Isn't everything nowadays about that fucking heist?" Jackie huffed, face turning into a frown.  
"The kid disappeared for days after the whole mess and then returned like that. Or I guess he was in better shape back then, but nothing like his usual self anyway. I'd know better if he'd just let me _fucking take a look and try to help_. But no, he says. I haven't yet paid you back, Vik, he says," the ripperdoc was someone Judy hadn't expected to lose their cool so easily. This must be a sore subject then.  
"Sorry I asked. It's just that I feel like if his coughing gets any worse he might actually manage to cough his lungs out."  
"We know," Misty looked so sad. Gosh, Judy needed some air. And after saying that also aloud, she made her way out of the front door. 

V was leaning on the railing opposite to his apartment door. Judy saw a plastic bag hanging from his other hand as he just stood there, staring at the other people living their lives in the megabuilding. When she got closer something caught her eye.  
"Didn't know you smoked," she hoped she sounded casual while leaning next to her host by the railing.  
"If I said that the voice in my head wouldn't stop nagging if I didn't, would you think I'm crazy?" he was joking, obviously, but something in his expression was, in a weird way, genuine. No, that had to be her own mind talking.  
"Nah, got the same little voice in my head too, actually. Mind if I bum one from you?" he shook his head and dug another smoke from his pocket, lighted it had offered it to Judy.

"Don't maybe tell others," V said while crushing his stub under his heel.  
"Sure. Don't think they would appreciate it?" there she went again. Asking questions. V's face turned grim.  
"Don't want them worried," there were many things Judy wanted to say to that but elected to stay quiet. So, there was some friction between V and his almost family-like friend group. Maybe it was for the best she wouldn't go poking holes to it. She still decided to save all their numbers, especially Viktor's, if anything alarming ever happened to V while with her.

**3, Caire**

V didn't come to the Afterlife often, but Claire still recognized the merc's face as soon as she saw him. He was hard to forget. He was handsome by most standards; high cheekbones, smooth skin with freckles sprinkled on his nose and cheeks, intelligent and bright green eyes and curly red hair reaching his upper back. V had multiple piercings in his ears and face and one time Claire got a glimpse of a snake tattoo on his chest when the merc had arrived while wearing an almost see-through shirt. Had she been ready to move on on Dean and if her gaydar wasn't basically screaming, she might have had tried to hit on him. But that was just speculation.

She did, however, ask V to take part in street races with her. That might have been a slight mistake. The guy was an okay driver, even good when it came to going straight and fast, but he _sucked_ at taking turns. But somehow they still managed to climb their way all the way to the finals and she had confronted V about her true intentions about the race. She hadn't missed the look in his eyes when V had climbed into Beast for the first time and saw the trans flag. That happy, proud and glee-like glint in his eyes was what made her so comfortable to speak about her own transition with him. V's reaction confirmed her guesses. He understood. Together they made sure this final was the last time Peter Sampson ever sat in a car. At least alive.

V's figure sat down in one of the stools next to the counter. Something was obviously off about him, Claire noted. The movements, posture, damn, Claire had never seen such cocky smirk on the merc's face before.  
"Hey V, how's it going? The usual?" she greets him, ready to go get him a Cirrus Nix. Instead, the man scowls.  
"That pussy drink? Naw, no fucking way! Gimme a real drink, it's high time the kid gets the stick out from his ass anyway," now Claire was worried. It wasn't unheard of. You know, someone hijacking another person.  
"V? Everything alright?"  
"Preem. Better than in a really fucking long time. Now, how about a Johnny Silverhand, hmm?"

He left soon after downing a few Silverhands. Claire debated for a while should she ask for someone to follow V and make sure he was okay. He, however, surprised Claire by returning hours later. The guy was so drunk she was amazed he was still able to walk upright and he was sporting a new tattoo on his arm. She couldn't make out the text, but it was clearly a heart with an arrow going through it.  
"Gimm' two o' Rogue's fav- favo- faves'," V slurred, leaning on the counter for support. V + Johhny, the tattoo said. As is Johnny Silverhand, the guy whose drinks had been the start of this clearly wild night?  
"You sure you should be drinking any more?"  
"'s no for meh. Jush, gimme the drinksh."

Claire had a feeling she would be regretting her decision of letting V even consider going near Rogue in that state. She wouldn't be happy from the interruption, that was for sure. But then again, Claire wasn't V's mother and she was honestly slightly curious what would happen, should she let the merc continue. So she made him two drinks and proceeded to watch the way V managed to balance the drink all the way to Rogue's booth and speak his way inside. Claire couldn't see or hear what happened after that, but she did see how after a moment Rogue was dragging V out of her booth and into the corridor leading for some rooms the club had. The merc was smirking smugly the whole time.

V was once again slumping by the counter the next afternoon. He seemed sick, which wasn't that surprising, to be honest.  
"Hey Claire," he croaked when he saw her from the corner of his eye. "You wouldn't happen to have any Nix at had? I have a feeling the last drinks of my life are in order."  
"Sure, hold up. Here," she passed a can to the merc. "Have it on the house, okay? You really seemed to have had a rough night."  
"Thanks, Claire. 'preciate it," V cracked the drink open and took a long sip.  
"If you don't mind me asking, how long exactly did you end up on this bender of yours?" V didn't answer at first, just drank. Then he happened to look at his arm. And the tattoo.  
"Fuck," V whispered and turned his head away from his are, face scowling.  
"Fucking Johnny!" and without saying anything else, the merc stormed out of the club, leaving behind a confused bartender.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh, it's not as good as I hoped it would be, but it's fine I guess... I have already planned the rest but didn't have the energy of writing them out right now. I just wanted to post you this, so I know if anyone even cares to read the rest :D


	2. 4-6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> V continues to confuse all the people surrounding him. Now not only is he staring at air every given chance but he now somehow knows a bunch of Night City's celebrities, every once in a while acts like a completely different person and _talks to air_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Umm hi? 
> 
> Greetings, you beautiful bastards 💕
> 
> Geez, I guess you definitely liked the first part, eh? Your comments made my day (or night tbh but you know :D) 
> 
> So, here's the second chapter and the rest of V's worried friends. I tried to move a little among the main storyline and its timeline but took some liberties. I'm not entirely sure how long does the story take like in the in-game world, but I guess it's more than 30 h :P 
> 
> Enjoy!

**4, River**

V had been a surprising ally. Working with mercs wasn't too uncommon in the police force, but the interactions were usually distant and blatant exploitation. Working with V felt like the complete opposite of that. To be totally honest with himself, River could admit that everything about V was the complete opposite of what he had expected a merc to be. V was nothing like the enormous gonks River was used to seeing but instead, the man was relatively small and lithe, reminding River more of a masculine version of a femme fatale from an early 00's action film than the buff and threatening bulls majority today's mercs were. Sure the guy was snarky and made the classic "dark and broody" first impression, but that mask quickly melted away. Instead, V turned out to be genuinely caring and good-hearted man and River enjoyed hanging out with him and even introduced him to his family. The merc had stuck out like a sore thumb during the dinner, what with his punk-like aesthetics and slightly mismatched colourful clothes with more than one bullet holes in them. River hoped those were there by the time V got his hands on the garments. 

Oh, and there was this other... _thing_. River was quite sure the man was suffering from schizophrenia. 

Now, don't get him wrong! There was absolutely nothing wrong with it! River didn't mind it at all and understood completely why V was avoiding all possible conversations that might end up with them talking about the mercs health. It was just that River was... a little surprised. He wasn't a professional either in psychology or being a merc, but he doubted having a condition that caused literal hallucinations was very helpful in V's chosen career. Because what else could those be but hallucinations? 

Every once in a while when hanging around V River would hear the man talking. Now that wasn't so atypical in this decade as most dealt with phone calls through implants and V surely was one of those people considering his profession. But the talking was nothing like a phone call. No ringtone, no greeting, no goodbyes, no coherent arc. It was always abrupt small sentences, exclamations, grunts and humming. The guy had even gestured to his invisible talking partner multiple times. And then there was Johnny. This Johnny came up the most frequently. That fact alone gave the heart-shaped "V + Johnny" tattoo a worrying undertone. 

River desperately wanted to ask V about all this. He personally knew that often hard feelings and difficult matter could be eased by talking about them. He wanted to show his support for this unexpected friend of his. V had listened to River when he had told about his parents. V had been there helping River to save his nephew. River now wanted to return the favour. But V was deflecting. The merc always managed to worm his way out of any conversation and had even once straight up told River he didn't want to talk about that one time River had seen him punching at air and cursing this Johnny to Hell. V had avoided the ex-cop for over a week after that. 

Despite V's reluctance to discuss the topic, River still had attempted to form a narrative for his situation. He was a private investigator after all. What he had managed to compile after knowing the merc for two months, was something along these lines: V used to date a guy named Johnny, but he had passed away quite recently. Johnny was a veteran and he might have been in one way or another linked to alcohol. How River came to these conclusions? Well, it was rather simple. First of all, the tattoo gave away the relationship status between the two. No matter how weird your humour is, you don't tattoo your family member's or best friend's name on you in _that_ kind of tattoo. And then there were the dog tags. Now V didn't strike to River as a person who would have been a veteran. He was barely twenty when the war ended and at no point had the merc mentioned the war while reminiscing his early years as a streetkid and a young merc. River was guessing from the way the man sometimes toyed with the dog tags absentmindedly with an afflicted expression that they had belonged to Johnny. 

The rest was more just guessing. There were a ton of different reasons a person could have to not drink anything, but the way V's face and twisted the first time he had refused a drink told River there had to be a story behind his absolutism. Also, and now he was really just speculating, that could be tied to the possibility of schizophrenia. What little River had been able to research on the condition, a traumatic event could trigger an underlying disorder. So maybe Johnny had passed in a traumatic event and now every once in a while V could still see or hear his dead lover. Now that River though about this, the whole theory was extremely sad definitely something he shouldn't even be making up. 

The first time River had been introduced to the ragtag friend group that River suspected was the merc's version of a family, however, fractured his hypothesis. He was excited to be there. V clearly felt comfortable enough around him to welcome River to the rest of his social circle and that alone had made his whole week. But secretly he was also happy to meet V's friends, so he could try and dissect a little more information about the merc. So when the guy left the apartment to get them all some food, River leaned forward and asked his first question.

"So, you guys knew Johnny?" instead of maybe some mournful or wistful faces he had expected to receive by bringing up V's possible dead boyfriend, River was met with tentative and confused glances.  
"Do you mean that Johnny from that ridiculous tattoo of V's?" a woman, Judy, River imagined her name was, scoffed. "Welcome to the gang, buddy, we have been scratching our head with the exact question as you have."  
Well, that was an unexpected turn of events.  
"So you don't know anything about him?" no one denied that.

"I always thought the tattoo was just a result of his drunken bender lasting the whole night around a month ago," another woman, Claire maybe, said from her spot on the windowsill. She had V's cat, Nibbles, contentedly snoring on her lap. That comment raised a lot of eyebrows, Rivers' included.  
"Eso no puede ser verdad, hermana, V never drinks!" a large man exclaimed. Jackie was someone V often talked about, warmth in his eyes almost every time.  
"You are not wrong there, Jackie. But this one night he saunters into Afterlife, demands to be served with a real drink, downs a bunch of Johnny Silverhands and disappears only to return in the wee-hours drunk off his ass with a new tattoo and determination to meet with Rogue. I always assumed the Johnny tattoo was only the result of a drunk mind latching onto the thing it remembered to start the night."  
That story was the beginning of a long, contemplating silence as the people in the room were taking this new information in. Before River was able to continue his questions, V returned with their food. 

The conversation after that followed the lines of getting to know each other as well as everyone sharing stories of their recent weird adventures in the worst city between Atlantic and Pacific. Soon after they had finished eating, V got a call. His eyes visibly brightened as he must have seen who was calling.  
"Hey, Ker! What's up?" the questioning looks around the room confirmed that no one was any wiser on who this "Ker" was.  
"Good, good," damn V sounded almost soft. "Yeah, we're having a hangout at my place... You know what? Sure. I'll ask, but I think it's cool... Alright, alright... See you soon, Ker!"  
"Um, so I think we'll have an extra guest if you all are cool with that?" V was dead wrong if he thought no one would notice the way the man didn't look at any of his friends while talking but was instead once again staring at his empty bed. There were flashes of emotions on his face; smugness, panic, laughter. 

"So, pray tell, who is this Ker then?" Viktor was the dad of the group, River decided. The ripperdoc was notably older than the rest of them and the man had clearly assigned himself the job of taking care of them all. And that job now included shovel talking this _Ker_ who made V smile like a love-sick puppy.  
"Ker, I mean Kerry is a... character. He's really an amazing person, I promise you, but don't be put out by his dramatics. He can be intense but is really just a lovable gonk, okay?" well, that wasn't the best selling speech River had heard. Viktor didn't look too impressed either. Jackie and Misty on the other hand just looked excited for V, happy that their friend had found someone. Judy and Claire were glancing at each other, unimpressed.  
"Uh-huh? And how did you end up meeting this lovable Kerry of yours?" Viktor questioned him further. But before he answered, V turned before their eyes and flipped off to the empty bed.  
"I met an... old friend of his. Wanted me to go and check on him and we just hit it off," V shrugged as if nothing had happened. No one knew how to respond to that. Luckily they didn't have to, as the doorbell rang right then. 

When River witnessed his friend getting embraced and kissed on the cheek by the Kerry _fucking_ Eurodyne, he decided that maybe it was for the best for him to just forget everything he had presumed about the merc and go back to the drawing board.

**5, Panam**

Looking at V's unconscious body, Panam mostly felt anger towards herself. Now that she was looking back, she could see that this could have been foreseen. Panam had just been too busy thinking about her own problems to notice V's. And to think she had been, and still was, so enamoured by the merc! She had readily turned a blind eye to the red flags. The coughing was just the sand and the terrible air always so prominent in the city and around it. It was not unusual for a person to avoid looking other to the eye, especially when talking. Nervous glancing and movements? Come on, the man was one of the top mercs in the city! V had all the right to be a bit critical about new surroundings. His hesitance in reacting to her attempts in making her feelings known could just be the man being a bit shy with feelings.

But deep down in her heart, Panam knew she had just been scared to face the truth. She desperately wanted to live in a world where everything would be fine; her family, V included, would be safe and happy and gonk merc would finally quit dancing around and answer to Panam's advances. But that wouldn't be possible now, would it? Panam had a dreading feeling the version of V she had been sporting to this point was a little more romanticized than she would like to even admit to anyone. 

There was something in the way V was ready to risk his own safety without payment to help the Aldecaldos just because Panam asked for his help. Okay, the first time might have been out of necessity, but the merc had no obligation to help them after that. V had saved multiple family members, helped Panam stand up to Saul and had been there encouraging her to return to her family. Just a few hours earlier V had been there congratulating her new position as a co-leader. That was until he had gone and passed out with no obvious reason.

Panam made sure there was always someone to look over V. As soon as they had settled on their new spot, she herself took over the job.  
"Do you know if there's anyone V would like to be notified about this?" Mitch asked as he sat down next to her. Damn, she hadn't even thought about that. Of course, V would have other people in his life. How foolish of her to forget that.  
"I don't know, Mitch," she admitted quietly. She didn't know. Despite how much she liked to think that she knew the merc, but she couldn't even think of a single name V had mentioned to her.  
"Maybe check his phone? I doubt there will be much we can get out of it given that he deals biz with it, but it's worth a try at least."

The phone was a dead end and V looked like he very well could be dead. By the time Panam had already lost her hope and was once again sitting next to V's bed, the phone finally rang. The caller ID said "Rogue". Panam sighed from relief. This she could handle, she at least knew Rogue. Better her than some close friend of V's of whom Panam had never even heard of.  
"Rogue, it's Panam," she answered the call. The line was quiet for a moment.  
"Is he okay? What happened?" there was the Rogue Panam actually liked. Straight to the point, no useless questions. Reliable and good. Of course, she was also a manipulating bitch but she could forget that for the sake of V's health.  
"He passed out without any evident reason. We have been able to do a shallow check upon him, but we had to move at the same time, so not much was discovered. There however is a chance of a virus, as our 'doc's equipment caught some disturbance. He is still unconscious after three and a half hours."

Rogue cursed.  
"That gonk! It must have been the relic, then. Did he manage to say you anything before he passed out? Anything about his condition?"  
"No? Do you think this is connected to something? Is there anything we should be looking out for?" Panam's mind was racing. Had V come to the camp in poor health? Was he ill or had he some lethal malware installed?  
"So he didn't mention anything. Typical... Johnny seems to be a terrible influence on the kid. I'm guessing he still hasn't told anyone. Alright, I'll call Kerry. At least V had the brains to tell him at least."  
"Hold on, who is Kerry? Or Johnny?" V had never mentioned either to her.  
"Kerry you'll meet soon enough, I think. And Johnny... that is a conversation I'll gladly leave to be held between you and V."  
"Very well then. I'll send you our new location. Is there anything you were calling V about that I should tell him if he wakes up?"  
"I was just going to offer a gig, but that's not important. I'll make sure there's someone for him. Look after him, Panam. Call if anything comes up," and the line went dead. 

So V was still closely working with Rogue, then. Huh. That was a little weird considering his apparent distaste for the woman during their first meeting. Or maybe the man had only been annoyed by the fact that he had to help Panam in exchange for getting to that guy he was after. Heavenman was it? Had something changed? One more thing to add to the list of things V didn't talk about. Panam sighed and settled back in her chair. Help was on its way, so the only thing they could now do was to wait. 

Panam looked at V. _Really_ looked at him. She noted that the merc had once again dyed his hair. Gone was the flaming red and now his curls were the colour of the sea in those ancient videos from the time when everything wasn't yet polluted into having the same colour of poisonous green and grey. Now that Panam was outright looking for them, she could note some differences in him. She could swear V hadn't looked like that when they had met. He surely had lacked those dark circles under his eyes. Both his skin and hair looked oddly dulled and as Panam looked back, she was certain V had lost weight in the time span of two months. He didn't look exactly fragile or weak but didn't appear to be in the best shape either. His eyes weren't as bright as they used to be. Hold on? His eyes were open!

Unsurprisingly, V brushed off the whole incident.  
"It was nothing. Really, Panam, I swear!"  
"You can barely sit upright! Don't try to bullshit me, V," Panam sighed, annoyed. What was there to even deny? One could assume that their current position was enough of a proof that not everything was fine. Fuck was that man such a gonk sometimes...  
"It's nothing you should be worried about. I'm feeling much better now."  
"Bullshit! V I swear-" before Panam could try to come up with a suiting threat, one of the Aldecados pocked her head into the tent.

"Uh, Panam? When you said Rogue'd send someone, did you happen to ask just _who_ she'd send?" Panam glanced questioningly at V, who seemed to realize immediately who they were talking as he visibly perked up. There was no opportunity for Panam to comment on the matter as a new person popped into the tent.  
"V," Kerry Eurodyne gasped as he rushed to V's side. "Hey, babe. How are you feeling? Was it the relic? I was so worried when Rogue called me!"  
"Ker, I'm okay! Yeah, just the same old malfunction, you know that. Sorry, you had to drive all the way here. I could have left by myself too..."  
"Bullshit. Don't apologise for that. You know I'd drop everything just to come to help you," Kerry pressed his forehead to V's. Panam awkwardly looked away.  
"Johnny is saying that if we could be any more, and I quote, mushy lovesick rainbow marshmallow lovebirds, he will throw up," V mumbles almost too quietly for Panam to hear him. Kerry just laughs.

The pair leaves soon after that, both men thanking the Aldecaldos and Panam for everything. She reminded V that no only would he always have a place there with them but that they would always help his as a family as he had already helped them. Then they were gone with Kerry's fancy car, as he had promised to send someone to pick up V's bike and bring it to his place.  
"So, to be honest, I kinda understand now why he doesn't speak much about the rest of his life," Mitch leaned his elbow on Panam's shoulder and there was a mischievous smirk on his face.  
"And also, I think we found a reason why V hasn't been so crazy for you as you wished," Panam punched him to his side, shaking her head.  
"Too soon?"

**6, Kerry**

Contrary to the mildly popular belief, Kerry wasn't stupid. Sure, he could acknowledge the fact that ~~most of the time~~ sometimes he acted without thinking first and that he had spent much more time under the influence than he'd like to admit. But he. Wasn't. Stupid.

Meeting V had been one of the best things that had happened to Kerry in a long time. He brought some life back into him, was ready to drop everything just to blow up vans with Kerry and supported him when he was struggling with the bullshit his (ex)manager pulled on him. V stuck around not caring about Kerry's fame or unpredictability. Damn, the merc had those attributes himself, even if in a slightly different manner. V was funny and sharp-witted and kind and so many more things that made Kerry want to use the rest of his life writing songs about the man. And if given the chance, he will do just that. 

And then there was Johhny. Kerry was able to confess that the first week of knowing about V's existence, his sole interest had been in Johnny. Him and the smoking hot face his revived friend now supported. But as the initial "Oh fuck it's _Johnny_ " Kerry started to shift his focus to the person hosting Johnny's engram. During their preparations for the final Samurai gig Kerry started to grow more interest towards the merc and by the time he had resolved the issues with Us Cracks he was already half gone for the man.

The "gigs" quickly turned into hangouts filled with bad television, heaps of fast food, music of varying quality and a lot of mind-blowing sex. Obviously. Kerry found out early in their relationship that V didn't drink or use anything and despite his openness to others drinking and using around him, Kerry noticed fast how much his body appreciated the break from all those substances. Cutting back for the sake of staying sober and lucid with the best lover Kerry could ever have was his greatest decision in a while. V also didn't like the idea of Kerry worrying about him and had on more than one occasion tried to sneak in covered in cuts and bruises.

V also reminded Kerry of Johnny more and more every single day. 

Things started simple. Kerry noted some quirks, but those had always been rather common, so he thought nothing of it. Things like not being physically able to sit normally. That was completely normal and them being a couple told Kerry enough about V to justify the merc's terrible habit to either take out so much space that Kerry had to fight for the chance to share the couch or sitting in such weird position that Kerry had to listen to the complaining to go on for days afterwards. He also noticed that V had caught Johnny's habit of pacing while stressed and the anxious tapping when forced to sit down.

What took Kerry a while to notice was that V knew way too much about the pop-culture from the early decades of the century for a guy born in the late '40s.  
"Hey Ker," V had once greeted the older man after finding him returning from a jog. See? Kerry was even caring about his body again! "I have a question."  
"Shoot," Kerry had easily replied, not suspecting anything.  
"Kerry, honey, WHAT ARE THOOOOSE?!" and so Kerry was taken back to the mid-10's. The world had been rough, but nothing had stopped the people from creating some positive air through memes. Samurai's crew had always been eager to hop onto every new trend the media presented them with.  
The references got more frequent as time went by. Kerry could swear he heard V once mutter "He need some milk" when the news showed the corpse of one more dead high-end corpo bastard. The merc denied everything afterwards. 

But it wasn't only the small little habits and ancient references V had picked up from Johnny. Or maybe the merc just started to resemble the rocker inside his head under pressure without his input. But V had recently started to get less patient. He snapped easily and Kerry was thrown back from the way V's annoyed grumble and snaps were almost identical to Johnny's sulking back in the day. Sure, V was much less murderous and didn't release his pent up anger into Kerry the same way Johnny had but it was there. Also, the malfunctions were getting increasingly worse. V was telling Kerry to stop worrying so much. But how could he not worry when V was crumbling to pieces in front of his very eyes? 

V smoked more often.  
"Aren't your lungs already suffering enough from the coughing?" Kerry had once asked without giving it much of a thought.  
"It's not like it matters much soon anyway. Also, Johnny just won't shut up about it."  
"One could think the bastard would have already picked up the fact that you smoking like a chimney isn't doing any good to either of you," Kerry pointedly didn't mention the first comment. He might have claimed the suicide stories to be a marketing plot. He had thought about sharing his own dark moments to V but had ultimately decided to save those things for a time where V wasn't dying. Sometimes he regretted that choice.  
"Says he heard that," right, Johnny was always _there_. Welp, that was an awkward thought Kerry wanted to forget once again.  
"And neither of us really wants this. Not _really_ really, at least. It's just that... how do I explain it? I guess it's the same thing as when you play a song you have known by heart for ages. You only need to think about a second and your fingers are already on the strings, playin' away. I think we're experiencing the same thing?"

Kerry dropped the topic after that. He could not bring himself up to note that V had started to talk about "us". He didn't want to mention that the way V so easily described a feeling of a musician as a man who had barely even touched an instrument in his whole life. For a moment they both stood there, looking at the view of Night City. V tightened the jacket he was wearing. Kerry recognized it to be the same jacket Johnny always wore. 

He knew the moment he heard V's voice through the call that this was it. Kerry wanted to cry. He wanted to shout and beg and pray, to do absolutely anything to stop V. Or at the very least make sure that he would come back for him. He logically knew that this had to be done in one way or another. But couldn't he still be angry and concerned about it? He was afraid for both of them. They better come back or otherwise Kerry didn't know what he'd do.

The next time he opened the news, he saw the headline:  
"The Arasaka tower has been attacked"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, fun fact: it's literal _hell_ to try write story with River in it while using a spell check. ACCCTUALLY eXcUsE mE, tHeRe ShOuLd Be ThE iN fRoNt Of ThAt RiVeR hnagraiovndnfd! This is the reason for my hatred towards articles. Why do you use them? Useless. Waste of my time, energy and mental health. If you have even two brain cells to rub together, you should be more than capable of understanding this language without any articles. Please, let's start an actually reasonable revolution. 
> 
> Also on that note, why isn't Panam/the conversation options able to keep it in their pants? It's like you're the "straight woman love interest" so you just have to be offering a way to the (male) player to make a move on her. Huh... I think I just answered my question... coolio :D
> 
> Also, I'll never give up on the idea that Johnny, a goddamn millenial, is packed with outdated memes and references from the time he was alive!!
> 
> So, hoped you liked this trainwreck of a part two and I hope even some of you all survived here so the final part will have even a few readers.
> 
> Any guesses who is the last person?


	3. +1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They did it. There was no more need to worry any more. 
> 
> They were free.
> 
> Both of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's finally Johnny's turn! Yay! 
> 
> Well, hello there, ladies and gentlemen! I'm the Wonderwhale and today we'll be finding out just how happy I can make a character, just using my poor imagination and the exploitation of reunions.
> 
> Anyone who got that reference, you make me happy :D Let's have some tea together sometime!
> 
> Enjoy!

**+1, Johnny**

Relief. Well, that was a feeling Johnny hadn't experienced in a while. He stared at his hands. No longer were they the clitching constructs created by V's head, nor were they the hands of the merc he had been sharing a mind with for the past few months. No. They were his own. One silver, one ganic. Well, almost at least. The ganic one was a little off; all of the markings were missing. Gone were the callouses from playing for days straight, gone were the scars from the war. But those didn't matter. What mattered was that Johnny once again had his own, physical form. 

"What are you thinking about?" V still looked a little strange to Johnny even though he had had many weeks to try to get used to it. Had he been anyone else, Johnny might have admitted that he missed V's original appearance. The merc just didn't look quite himself when he was missing his long and colourful curls, beautiful tattoos and the wide array of different scars left by countless jobs and fights the man had gone through. V's hair had already started to grow, but it would take a long time before his own natural blond buzzcut would start to resemble what he used to have. V had already had many of his old tattoos redrawn on his new skin. V + Johnny had been the first, at V's own insistence. His old cyberware had been successfully installed into his new body.

Yeah, new body. Johnny really shouldn't have been surprised to hear that _that_ was nowadays possible. Nor should he have been surprised to hear from Alt at the end of their suicide run that Arasaka had an empty synthetic Johnny Silverhand's body stored in one of its endless test chambers. So when they had heard how V would die, one way or another, Johnny had only seen one option. Taking over V's body once again, he had followed Alt's directions to the lifeless copy of himself and let his engram be transferred into it. V's limp body was not something the rockerboy never could have prepared for. It felt wrong in every way imaginable. Escaping the tower with the assistance of a super-powerful AI had been easy and as long as he held the thought of the reward ahead, the 15-hour-drive wasn't much harder. 

Alt had reassured Johnny that this organization they were dealing with was reliable and the treatment cost would be covered simply by the fact that the pair of them were responsible for the apparent doom of Arasaka. So he had let them pry the body off of his hands to be analyzed. The creation of V's synthetic body took a week and it was the longest week of Johnny's goddamn life. Forget the dreadful nights spent in guard during the war. The fear, the worry, the _emptiness_ , that was way worse. For months now Johnny had been alive only inside of V's mind and now there was no V. Alt was keeping his engram in the cyberspace for safekeeping. And Johnny was left with only the half-made body with no lights on. 

Luckily everything had gone according to the plan. The only time there were any issues had been when they all realized that V's synthetic body was based on his DNA and similar shit Johnny didn't have the patience to understand. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, but V's body had previously gone through some rather important changes. After some tweaking around with hormones and settings in the growing process, V's face once again started to remind the one Johnny had grown so used to. And soon after that, they were able to insert V's consciousness into the synth-body.

Their first real hug lasted too long for either of them wanted to acknowledge.

"Are you even listening to me?" V was now up from the motel bed, poking the side of Johnny's head, fake annoyance failing to stay on his face as he amusedly stared at the older man.  
"Oh don't mind me, was just wondering how I can I be so damn amazing," Johnny smirked and tried to push V's hand away. The merc just poked twice as hard.  
"Sure, whatever you say. Robert."  
"Hey! You take that back! _Vincent_."  
"Fuck you... anyway, we should be going."  
"I know, V. Were just wondering how we were so lucky to make it this far..."

They had decided to spend their first night in Night City in the Sunset Motel. V's apartment had been emptied two weeks ago, as the rent hadn't been paid. They both thought it was for the best to stay out of sight and plan things before turning up on anyone's doorsteps. Now they were ready to finally face the inescapable wrath of multiple of V's friends. Johnny had forced V to send an "I'm still alive" message to everyone filling his inbox with worried voicemails, but he knew the merc hadn't elaborated on the matter any more than that. But beyond some mental scarring from seeing so much mushy relief-crying and cheesy "don't you ever do that again"'s, Johnny wasn't too worried about it. They both were alive and good and that was all that mattered. 

After stopping by the megabuilding 10 to check if any of V's possessions were not already taken by scroungers, they headed straight to North Oak with only a couple of small possessions with them. V had considered going to Vik's shop first but had ultimately decided against it. Vik would also mean Jackie and Misty and _that_ was not the kind of situation they were ready quite just yet. So Kerry it was then.

"What? No 'Oh thank god, Johnny, you're alive' kiss for me, huh?" he had to stop those two lovebirds at some point, right? Like, they should breathe every once in a while. The feeling of having anyone else than V react to his comments felt better than he'd like to admit. Kerry regarded him for a second. He then finally separated his face from V's and stepped to look at Johnny closer up.  
"Damn it. If that isn't just outright creepy, I dunno what is. Good to see you as yourself again," Kerry pulled Johnny in a tight hug, not caring at all about Johnny's attempts of escaping his friend's arms. But as there was little to non to be done to save his ego anymore, Johnny quickly gave in to the hug and squeezed back just as hard. Kerry pulled back first, his hands coming up to turn Johnny's head to the side just to marvel at the precision of the synthetic body.

"What, preferred me with V's face, didya? Kinky, if you ask me," Johnny smirked and gave his friend a flirty wink.  
"Nope, I actually prefer only V carrying that face, thank you very much. Your ugly mug fits you just perfectly, no need for you to worry about that."  
V's gleeful shout from the inside interrupted their banter before it could even start. A muffled sound of a cat meowing told the two rockerboys that their merc had found his cat. They both glanced at each other, their faces holing the same expression of adoration. V absolutely loved Nibbles.  
"You have any idea how distressing it is to receive a message from an unknown number telling me to go get my missing boyfriend's cat from his place?"  
"Well sorry, I didn't have the option of getting your number by any normal way while trying to save that gonk's ass."  
"I'd thank you, but I don't think I should feed your oversized ego."  
"Fuck you, man."  
"Missed you too."

A get-together was the most logical solution for V. Now, Johnny knew V probably better than anyone else did. Johnny knew how much it had hurt V to not tell anyone. He knew about V's crippling fear of abandonment and he knew of his habit of hiding things that could make people run away from him. V loved his friends dearly, Johnny knew that. He had been there, hearing all those ashamed thoughts when V had decided to lie. Johnny had been there, calming V down when he had started to listen to the messages people had sent him. And now Johnny was ready to stand by his side as V would face his family after a month of being missing. With no other place being an option, the invitations were sent with the location being Villa Eurodyne. Johnny had scoffed at the wording, but it was so typical V that he let it pass this once.

"Hey, I'm still alive! Come to Ker's tomorrow at 6 pm, I've got something I wanna show you :D"

Nowadays Johnny didn't need to be able to hear V's thoughts to read the man. The man could be holding a sign over his head telling his current emotion when it came to Johnny knowing his moods. He had asked Johnny to stay out of sight just for a second before dropping the bomb on his friends. So Johnny ended up spying his ex-head-mate's expressions from the second floor as their guests started to turn up. And he desperately wanted to be closer to offer his support, but at least V had Kerry there. The last person Johnny had expected himself to be jealous of. Huh... didn't see that one coming. 

Jackie, Misty and Viktor were there first, early by almost twenty minutes. A combination of Vik's insistence on always being early just to be safe and Jackie's endless excitement of finally seeing V again, Johnny guessed. There were shouts of joy, worried exclamations and a few tears shed. When asked about it, V only promised to tell about everything once everyone got there. Then there was Panam and Judy, arriving together and holding hands. Well well well... the same routine happened every time there was a new face by the door until finally, Claire turned up a little late complaining about having some difficulties at the garage. Now that they all were there, all the eyes were on V, expectant.  
"So as I said, I have a real fucking long story to tell you guys. But I doubt I can do that alone, so I want you to meet someone." That was Johnny's signal to come to the lounge. Judging from a couple of surprised gasps, he was immediately recognized.  
"So guys, meet my ex brain tumour of three months, Johnny Silverhand."  
"Smooth as a baby's ass, as always, Samurai."  
The silence didn't last even a blink as Viktor effectively summarised the overall mood in one simple sentence.  
"What the absolute fuck is that even supposed to mean?"

V found him a couple of hours later leaning to the glass railing of Kerry's patio, watching over the city.  
"Hey, J. Getting already tired of being once again held accountable for you comments?" V leaned next to him, closer than he had expected. Ever since waking up in his new body, V had, maybe unintentionally, made sure to always to keep Johnny close. He could only guess, but Johnny had a feeling it was the merc's way of being certain Johnny wasn't going to disappear on him. The rockerboy surprisingly didn't mind at all.  
"Nah, just needed a smoke an' don' wanna upset Ker on the first day by smoking inside."  
"Pretty sure he wouldn't mind. There are ashtrays inside and you know it. You all good?" Johnny huffed, dodging the question.  
"Don't tell me you want one too."  
"Nope. Quite sure that inch left the through the same door as you did."  
"Good." 

Did Johnny feel quilty making V crave smokes as badly as he had? Hell yes. Johnny had seen the memories leading up to V's anxiety towards all things addictive. He had been there in the shoes of V, seeing through his child version's eyes, witnessing alongside him the terrors of growing up with a drug-addict alcoholic. He himself had been there sharing the pressing fear of ending up following the same footsteps. And still, he had gone and went on his little bender, not caring a single fucking inch about the man whose body he had been joyriding. He had come and infected his cravings onto a man heavily struggling to tone down those exact cravings inside himself. V must have noticed the change in Johnny's face, as he brought him back to earth by a soft poke to the side.  
"Hey, don't beat yourself over it, okay? There wasn't anything you could do about the relic."  
"I could have at least _tried_ to resist it. Not beg you to give in to the craving. Not use you to get my own satisfaction. Fuck, V..."  
"Shut it, Johnny. Sure, you were a huge dick back then, but the fact that you can recognize what you did wrong tells me how much you have grown since that. So I think we should agree to let bygones be bygones and join back to the others. Sounds good?"  
"Yeah. Real good, V."

V spent the rest of the evening wrapped in Kerry's arms on the couch, Nibbles sleeping on his stomach and his legs laying on Johnny's lap. His friends had an endless stream of questions they tried to answer. Simple things like could they hear each other's thoughts. Yes, they could. River wanted to know if they could see each other and by extension, touch each other. When given an affirmative answer, River looked like he had solved a complicated crime.  
"Thought you had schizophrenia," he admitted when asked about his theories. "I mean, what else could a man think when presented with someone like you? Do you have any idea how you looked like when talking to Johnny? I was _convinced_ he was your dead veteran lover and that your condition was making you see and hear him."  
That made them laugh.  
"Johnny!" Kerry, the fucking drama queen that he was, gasped. "Is there something I don't know of? V, how dare you? And with my dead best friend, even! Is there anything holy in this world anymore?"  
"That's what I thought the first time V decided it was a good idea to jump into bed with you," Johnny joked right back, pushing away the smallest flicker of real jealousy. Maybe in another universe...  
"Wait, if you felt what V felt, doesn't that mean that you also felt it when..?" Judy trailed off with an arched eyebrow.  
"Alright! Change of subject! Do you guys wanna hear about that one time Johnny and I broke into this Samurai superfan's apartment?"

Right there Johnny felt the happiest he had since waking up in V's head. maybe since ever. Right there, next to V who was surrounded by his friends. Friends that had even started to grow on Johnny too. There was Kerry, the bastard he had always cared a little too much to match his style. Johnny was glad he had happened to see the screamsheets on his alleged suicide attempt. He was relieved he had made V go and check on him. So much stress and worry had been removed from the shoulders of them both. And looking around the room, Johnny could see it.

There was no need to worry, not anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was that then :D My first ever fic I've managed to finish to this date!
> 
> I was this close This👌Fucking👌Close👌 to dropping all my original plans and just making this a Johhny/Kerry/V threesome. Actually... now that I think about it, I _think_ I could very well still do that. Go wild and sprinkle some mutual pining, not actually unrequired feelings, fluff and all that good shit :)))
> 
> Is anyone interested in reading something like that?
> 
> But I won't take any more time of yours. You are now free, so fly, my friend! I hope we'll meet again :D

**Author's Note:**

> Come chat with me on Tumblr! My account is called [whalewriting](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/whalewriting)!


End file.
